This invention relates to an apparatus for inserting a cylindrical roll of material into a carton. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus for inserting a cylindrical roll of plastic bags into a packaging carton.
In the packaging of plastic bags, the bags, after they have been formed and sometimes folded, are typically wound onto a winding spindle to form a roll of bags. The bags can be wound around a core, such as a cardboard cylinder. It is not necessary, however, to use a core. One such process for preparing the bags to be packaged is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,361 issued Jul. 30, 1974, and assigned to the same assignee as is the present invention.
After the bags are wound, they are inserted into a packaging carton, usually made of cardboard, in either of two ways. First, they can be inserted manually, which decreases the number of packages that can be formed in a given time and increases the total cost.
Second, a machine may be used to grip the outside of the roll of bags and automatically insert the roll into a carton. A disadvantage of this method is that the carton must necessarily be sufficiently large to accommodate the roll and the gripper mechanism so that the gripper can hold the roll until the roll is inside the carton, where the gripper then releases it. Because the size of the carton must be overly large as compared to the size of the roll to accommodate the gripper, more material must be used to form the carton, thus increasing the total cost of the carton, as well as increasing the space needed to transport and store the cartons.
There has, therefore, been a need for a means to automatically insert a roll of bags into a carton in an economical fashion. The present invention provides a means for gripping the inside of the roll to insert it into a carton. With the mechanism of the present invention, rolls can be automatically inserted into cartons that are only slightly larger than the outside diameter of the roll.